Tampa Bay Vipers vs LA Wildcats Odds, Picks, and Predictions

• The Tampa Bay Vipers visit the Los Angeles Wildcats on Sunday, March 8th at 9:00 pm EST
• The Vipers and Wildcats each have just one win on the season as they both beat the DC Defenders
• Get the odds and best bet for Sunday’s game here

The Tampa Bay Vipers had a stunning win in Week 4 when they shutout the DC Defenders 25-0. The Defenders had been among the top teams in the XFL and the Vipers had been winless. Does this signal a turnaround for Tampa Bay? They find themselves as a road dog in Los Angeles this week of 2.5-points after opening as just a 1-point dog earlier this week. Let’s take a closer look.

Vipers vs Wildcats XFL Week 5 Odds

Odds taken Mar. 5

Vipers Stun Defenders

There was tons of money on the Defenders last week as the Vipers opened -1.5 but closed as a 4.5-point underdog. Many people assumed that the Vipers shouldn’t be favored as they were winless but they proved the masses wrong, not only winning but trouncing the Vipers 25-0.

It was a dominant performance as Tampa Bay held DC to just 107 yards of total offense and six first downs. DC averaged just 1.7 yards-per-play. On the other side of the ball, it was a second consecutive strong performance by the Vipers offense as they compiled 477 total yards.

The Vipers have turned to Taylor Cornelius at quarterback and while he’s not great, he’s stabilized the position. They’ve also seen an improvement in the ground game as they had 129 rushing yards in Week 3 and then racked up 266 in Week 4.

What to Make of the Wildcats?

The Los Angeles Wildcats are supposed to be one of the better teams in the XFL but all we’ve learned so far about them is that they’re very inconsistent. This is a team that was blown out 37-17 by Houston in Week 1, lost 25-18 at home to Dallas in Week 2, beat DC 39-9 in Week 3 and then lost 17-14 to New York in Week 4.

A lot of people figured Josh Johnson – a quarterback who has made starts in the NFL – would dominate this league and there’s no question that he’s played well. He’s getting next to no help from the ground game, though, as the Wildcats had just 40 rushing yards last week after compiling 56 in Week 3, according to the XFL team stats.

Vipers vs Wildcats Head-to-Head

What’s the Best Bet?

This is a weird game as the Wildcats and Vipers both haven’t been very good so far. Both teams are stuck on one win and that lone victory – for both sides – has come at the hands of the DC Defenders.

The Wildcats are mostly a one-trick pony with Johnson but he’s shown that he can’t do it all. As for the Vipers, they aren’t great at quarterback but seem to have a strong running game and a decent defense.

Overall, I’m going to avoid the side here and take a look at the “Under”. Neither offense is that impressive. If you remove both teams’ big win over DC, the Wildcats are averaging just 16.3 points per game while the Vipers are at 13.0. I’m expecting a low-scoring affair in this one.